Closure of Borders In the north, when commerce fails, smuggling increases.
Since the Federal Government decided to seal the crossings with the Niger Republic after the August 3 military takeover of power in the Francophone country, commercial operations in border settlements in Katsina, Sokoto, Borno, and Zamfara states have ground to a halt.
Commercial activity in the border villages of Katsina, Sokoto, Borno, and Zamfara have been paralysed, with lengthy queues of vehicles loaded with products still stalled at the frontiers, according to checks conducted by The PUNCH within the last week.
Smuggling continues to flourish across unofficial U.S. borders, despite the fact that security forces are present at these crossings.
Concern and indignation were voiced in the Jibia Local Government Area of Katsina State due to the dismal state of commerce.
The Kwangolam (Kogolam) border crossing between Katsina State and the Niger Republic was closed at the same time as the Magamar-Jibia crossing.
The economic situation was dire in several places, including Magamar-Jibia, Kogolam Maiyardua, Baure, Dankama, and Birni Kuka. Agricultural products like yams and cereals are the main commodities traded in these neighbourhoods.
At Maiyardua, for instance, many traders have moved from transborder commerce to livestock, notably cattle, goats, and poultry. Despite the return of exports and imports at the Kwangolam border post, the local transborder traders appear to have been saved by the establishment of a cattle market.
There is still a police presence and checkpoints along the Kwangolam road, as well as presences of the Nigeria Customs Service and the Nigeria Immigration Service.
From Daura to Kwangolam, a distance of about 16 km, our reporter passed through more than ten such checkpoints. But they weren’t bothering passengers either, the security personnel.
The Kwangolam border check post between Nigeria and Niger Republic may as well have been closed for the summer, as no security personnel were in evidence. One might easily mistake the area for another part of town if not for the presence of some locals who operate a car wash just a few yards away from the border post and the rope put across the road at the main entrance of the border post.
In an interview with our correspondent, locals vented their frustrations, saying the border shutdown had destroyed their economy.
Ado Usman, 42, stated, “I used to come to Kwangolam every day from Zango as I was selling any product brought in through the borders until the borders were closed in August.” Milk, rice, spaghetti, and sugar were the most common items. People from all over Nigeria, including Kano, would make the trip to buy from me because they knew they could always acquire the merchandise from me once they were here. Since the border was closed, however, things have been difficult. Even when some of the things find their way here, they are too pricey for consumers to buy.
”Many of us now scrape out a living by aiding individuals to buy and sell animals at the Maiyardua Kara market. To make ends meet, many of us have gone into the Okada industry, while others have moved to other major cities like Lagos, Ibadan, and Port Harcourt to be closer to friends and family. The situation is dire, but we keep our fingers crossed that the border will be opened again sometime.
The economies of Magamar-Jibia and the neighbouring towns of Jibia and Daddara are in a freefall. As in Kwangolam, several stores have closed and been replaced by farmers’ markets.
When our journalist went to Jibia town over the weekend, the formerly bustling business centre was a shell of its former self.
Many Jibia merchants who spoke on the condition of anonymity said that officials and personnel of the NCS extorted money from merchants transporting commodities to Jibia from elsewhere in Nigeria before Nigeria closed her border with the Niger Republic. According to the merchants, this is one reason why fewer people now engage in commercial transactions in Jibia.
The 45-year-old shopkeeper Husseini Mubarak of Jibia town’s market stated, “We are imploring the federal authorities to reopen the border in Jibia. A lot of us have gotten destitute because of the closed border. There is no activity in the marketplace. Since the goods we used to trade for have dried up, many of us have turned to selling yams and cereals. Those of us who have farms cannot even go to the farms again because of bandits. Every week, bandits attack the city of Jibia. The current state of affairs is just awful.
Several farmers were observed walking past the Magammar-Jibia checkpoint on their route to or from their fields. Aside from that, there was nothing happening on the border station’s grounds.
Under cover of anonymity, the security personnel on duty reported no incidents of harassment from locals.
Alhaji Gide Dahiru, chairman of the Jibia Peoples Forum, said that people in the area have suffered because of the closing of the border. The Niger Republic crisis, he pleaded with the United States government to resolve peacefully.
In regards to the federal government’s decision to close the border, he said, “As patriotic Nigerians, we support every action taken on the closure.” But we must be honest and say that many people’s attention, notably that of dealers, is currently on agricultural items. Due to the lack of incoming stock, several businesses have been forced to close as a result of the shutdown.
Bandits’ actions have only made Jibia’s predicament worse. Farming is no longer an option because of the constant threat of kidnapping by bandits. As a result, we are experiencing a food shortage, and all of our marketplaces have once again ceased trade. Because to extortion by security personnel along the Katsina/Jibia route, even local items purchased from other regions of Nigeria have a difficult time reaching Jibia.
We’re only asking the federal government to recognise Jibia as a real place with real inhabitants who happen to be Nigerians. While many of us in Jibia have family ties to the Niger Republic, we are all Nigerians who have been forced into poverty by the closing of the border and the rampant activity of robbers.
Mallam Abdurahman Abdullahi, the head of the Civil Society Organisations of Nigeria in Katsina State, has also called for a review of the existing border blockade with the Niger Republic by the federal government.
The economic operations of towns bordering the Niger Republic are impacted by the closing of the border, he added. As a result, as people’s means of subsistence dry up, criminal activity rises in those regions. You will cry if you visit Magama Jibia, Kongolom, Baure, Dankama, and the other border towns in Katsina State that are next to Niger Republic. The drying up of these former commercial centres is a direct result of the closing of their borders. ”
Muhammed Umar, the NCS comptroller in charge of the Katsina Area Command, has visited with locals in 12 border towns in Katsina State, where he has asked them to work together to reduce cross-border crime and strengthen national security.
Zamfara has one hundred open borders, where smuggling is booming.
There is no federally established border station in Zamfara State to monitor illegal cross-border trade.
On the other hand, the state’s Zurmi and Shinkafi Local Government Areas share more than 100 porous borders with the bordering Niger Republic.
This paper’s investigations revealed that products and services are freely flowing across the porous borders into and out of the bordering Niger Republic, demonstrating that the border closure agreement has failed.
There appeared to be no controls on the free movement of automobiles and motorbikes between the towns of Gidan Jaja and Gurbin Bore in the Zurmi Local Government Area and the Shinkafi Local Government Area and the Niger Republic.
Gidan Jaja and other porous borders have allowed the Niger Republic to import grains and garment materials into the nation with little to no resistance from security officers at checkpoints.
A trader identified only as Abdullahi Kaura stated that, unlike in the past when they actively pursued and detained defaulters, Customs authorities are now taking a more lenient approach to the seizure of illicit commodities.
In addition to the fact that “business activities from the two neighbouring countries that have been crippled in the past as a result of the border closure have now returned to normal,” Abdullahi claims that Customs agents at checkpoints have ceased harassing those who import items from the Niger Republic.
No Customs officials in the state were willing to comment despite repeated attempts to reach out to them.
Illela Local Government Area in Sokoto State, which used to be the busiest and booming border town between Nigeria and Niger Republic, is now a shell of its former glory, with economic operations at their all-time low.
The bulk of the young people in the neighbourhood are recognised for their border-related companies, but those who relied on them say they now struggle to put food on the table.
When our journalist went to the Illela border town to find out how things were doing, he found that the area’s economy had collapsed since the days when the border was bustling with trade.
As a result of the federal government’s shutdown of the border, dozens of articulated vehicles have been stuck on the opposite side of the fence for days.
Products as varied as textiles, charcoal, and soap were on board the majority of the vehicles that became stranded near factories like Dangote and BUA cement.
Some inhabitants of the border community appealed to the federal government to address the hardship of residents of the border communities in the country and open the border for commercial operations.
Since the border is currently staffed by military troops, security in the town and at the border post is much tighter than it was when the border was closed in August.
Meanwhile, numerous vehicles remain stuck at the border checkpoint with their cargo unable to obtain admission back into the nation despite pleas from Nigerians, particularly those involved in import and export sector.
According to reports, the vehicles have been stuck at the border station ever since President Obiang ordered all land crossings with the Niger Republic to be blocked back in August.
Caravan drivers who spoke out against the federal government’s stance said they felt like foreigners in their own nation.
A motor boy for one of the trucks, Adamu Nasiru, expressed his dismay at the way he and his fellow citizens were treated in Nigeria.
We have officially started working as professional trailer drivers. Should we, if a border closes for whatever reason, be expected to live in limbo for so long without the protection of our own government?
Some of us have been bitten by snakes and become sick from the unsanitary circumstances here, but we have no choice but to sleep on the naked floor.
I believe we have a right to know the gravity of our transgression: is it illegal for me to choose this job over a life of crime?
“We have all of our documents in order, and as such, we should be allowed in to reunite with our families while we are still alive,” they said in their appeal to the authorities.
Godwin Monday, a truck driver who was travelling from Burkina Faso to Niger Republic before the closing of the borders, also spoke, lamenting the fact that his life has changed irrevocably because of the incident.
To continue, I find myself at a loss for words. All efforts to convince the local administration and security personnel to let us leave and return home have been fruitless.
We are living off the charity of the locals in Illela. We’ve sold all our diesel so we can eat, and several of us have found work helping out on local farms. To get back into the nation with our automobiles, we need your aid appealing to Mr. President.
We are not criminals and should not be regarded as such in our homeland, which is why we have chosen this occupation. This is a tremendous injustice to us. None of us here are bad guys. They ought to let us re-enter the nation.
It was also learned that smuggling was still going on in the area’s bushes despite the authorities’ closing of the border.
Numerous motorbikes carrying a wide variety of goods were spotted entering from the Niger Republic, and others were seen heading in the opposite direction, from the Nigeria-Nigeria corridor.
A biker who was interviewed for this article claimed that the illicit smuggling of commodities in the region could not be stopped by closing the border.
Speaking with our journalist, Nuhu (surname withheld) said that he has been working as a transporter for smugglers for more than a decade.
I’ve been doing this for almost a decade and don’t see any reason to stop now that I’m familiar with all the ropes.
We are so far off from the border that security personnel have no business interfering with our business.
Once we’ve settled the ones that patronise us along the bush, we won’t have to bother about the rest of them.
“Even due to the closure of borders by other countries with Niger Republic, business activities in Niger have also been affected.”
According to local shopkeeper Altine Illeila, who talked with our correspondent, the closing of the border has led to a dramatic increase in the prices of food and other goods.
He claimed that smuggling was not very costly while the border was open, therefore Illeila’s prices were reasonable.
He added that even transporting little items to Kwani and the other states in Niger Republic was too stressful.
“As you probably already know, Niger Republic is where we make the most money off of our soda sales. Coke, Maltina, Nutrimilk, and energy drinks, among others, used to bring in respectable earnings, but those days are over.
There will be a price hike because “anyone who intends to bring things into the country or take out any goods or items must be ready to part with more bribes.”
Customs and Immigration, among others, at the border post all declined to comment, claiming they were not permitted to communicate with the press about the matter.
But the Comptroller, NCS, Sokoto/Zamfara Command, Musa Omale, on a visit to the border town complimented the inhabitants for complying with the orders on the closing of the land border.
The Comptroller, who was checking in on things and trying to keep morale up among the command’s officers and soldiers, brought up the fact that, after the military coup, the federal government had ordered the closure of all border stations with the Niger Republic.
He explained that the purpose of the tour was to build morale among the command’s officers and soldiers and to assure complete compliance following a visit by the Comptroller General of Customs.
The command has continued to use intelligence to great effect, resulting in a record number of interceptions since the shutdown.
I’m impressed by all the new checks and balances that have been set up. I’d want to extend my gratitude to our other security partners for helping us enforce this compliance, and I urge you to keep up the good work.
Omale also thanked the community, including importers, exporters, and agents, for their patience during this issue and assured them that the command is working towards an expedient peaceful conclusion.
People in Borno County sigh
Despite the fact that roughly 30 percent of cross-border commerce is estimated to move illegally through bush channels, transborder traders in Borno State tell horrifying experiences as trans-border commercial activity decline by over 70 per cent following the shutdown.
“I import into Nigeria from Niger food items like maize, beans, onions, fish, and export fishing nets, hooks, and most other essential commodities that are not available in Niger,” said Bukar Alibe.
Before the Gaidam border was closed, I would bring at least five pickup loads of these goods back and forth between the two nations every day.
Most of us now do so through illicit bush roots since Customs officers on both sides of the border would undoubtedly confiscate the commodities if they were legally transported.
He went on to say, “An incalculable huge volume of our goods lie waste at the Gaidam (Yobe State) and Damasak (Borno State) border towns because they cannot be transported across.”
For example, Alibe said, “My N500,000 worth of onions I was trying to bring in from Niger rotted away at the Nigerien side of the border because of the border closure,” and “A friend of mine, Alhaji Modu Idriss’ about N5m worth of smoked fish was confiscated by the Nigerien Customs officials while trying to port it through the border post.”
He claimed the closing of the border has been damaging to Nigeriens and Nigerian businessmen.
Alibe continued, “Transborder business has been virtually completely halted at both ends.”
“While the Niger Republic, which relies about 70 to 80 per cent on the importation of goods through Nigeria, is starved of most of its needed essential commodities, plunging their population into more untold hardships, we Nigerian transborder businessmen are also plunged into hardships because this has been our livelihood for ages.”
Aimi Aji is involved in cross-border trading of rice and smoked fish. At one point, he was making the trip across the Gaidam border at least once a month. He claims he now only sometimes breaks the law by digging through a bush’s illegal root.
Since the closing of the border, Customs officers have never confiscated any of my products, but the 90 bags of rice I was planning to take to Niger are currently stored in Gaidam at a loss of more than N2m. My entire career has been in international commerce; at present, I am not earning a living and am living solely off of my savings.
Babagana Mutikime trades in textiles, cell phones (iPhone, Smart, and Android) as well as women’s apparel.
“I used to sell approximately N10m worth of these products, sometimes even more, to Niger Republic,” he revealed, continuing with profound regret, “Now I have about N5m worth of these commodities, which I can’t send to Niger.
The bulk of the products are mobile phones, however they are not the kind of phone that is popular in Nigeria; rather, they are the kind of phone that is popular among Nigeriens.
I attempted selling them at low costs to see whether Nigerians would buy them, but I quickly saw that doing so would be a huge embarrassment to me as a businessman since I would be making a loss.
In a tone of deep anguish, he said, “I can tell you that I have now spent about N3m out of my capital for the upkeep of my family because I have been doing virtually nothing since the closure of the border.”
The Borno State Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines, and Agriculture is led by Alhaji Ahmed Ashemi.
“Nobody can tell you the number of billions of naira lost as a result of the halting of transborder trade due to the closure of the border because there are no formal records to enable us to do that credibly, but I can authoritatively tell you that transborder trade has shrunk by over 70 per cent since the closure of the borders,” Ashemi said.
Because the borders with Chad and Cameroon are also closed and the government has not officially informed us that they have been opened, he added, “although the issue at hand affects Nigeria/Niger Republic transborder trade, to substantial percentages it also affects trade between Nigeria, the Central and East African countries.”
